Jeffrey S Elmendorf PhD

Dr. Elmendorf's research over the past 20 years has been focused on dissecting mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle and adipose tissue glucose transport and defining their alterations in insulin resistance. A major alteration found uniformly in insulin-resistant cell systems and tissues from insulin-resistant animal models and humans is an accumulation of membrane cholesterol. Two main projects are: 1) Determining the mechanism of peripheral tissue membrane cholesterol accrual/toxicity; and 2) Identifying therapeutic reversal strategies. The projects are of direct relevance to human disease, are translational, and are expected to significantly impact understanding of new approaches to the prevention and/or treatment of disorders in glucose and lipoprotein metabolism.